ELDERLY residents say an area outside their home has become a “quagmire of mud” after plans to turn it into a car park fell through.

Residents living in Balmoral Court, in Alliston Way, South Ham, were promised that the area would be turned into a car park by Sovereign housing association, which owns the retirement complex. 

The proposals were agreed after South Ham Community Action Group lobbied Sovereign to develop the land to create proper parking spaces for residents.

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Basingstoke Gazette: Residents say the area outside their home is 'dangerous' when it rainsMags Smith, 73, from Balmoral Court said: “It’s taken two years to convince them that was a good idea and they budgeted for it and now they have withdrawn the funding.”

The great-grandmother said residents were annoyed to hear the funding had been pulled and they were given no explanation from Sovereign as to why.

Plans to use the area for parking were first discussed before the pandemic, when Sovereign agreed to create a car park for Balmoral Court residents to mitigate for the inconvenience of building work to develop the former nearby Deeside Care Home, also in Alliston Way, into five homes.

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Balmoral Court residents were meant to be given six parking spaces.

However, the plans were put on hold during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mags said: “Lockdown arrived and building stopped and they ran out of money. We understood that. However, since then as a member of the action group I have lobbied for Sovereign to give us a car park.”

She added: “When the redevelopment was done there was nowhere for people to park. They laid down some rubber mats and people have been using these but the problem is when it rains there’s a quagmire of mud which goes all over the paths and people’s shoes and it’s awful to look at, it’s disgusting.

“I can’t believe they’ve pulled the funding on it. They didn’t explain why. It’s not just horrible to look at, it’s dangerous. Two of our elderly ladies have already slipped and another neighbour slipped the other day. One of these days someone will slip and break something and they won’t come out of hospital. We want all our neighbours to be safe.”

A spokesperson for Sovereign Network Group (SNG), said: “SNG is aware of the difficulties with parking at Balmoral Court and has listened to the views of the customers about this in a recent consultation.  

"We continue to engage and communicate with the local community on the future of South Ham and Buckskin to create a plan for the future. We want the results of this to guide our investment across the area and ensure that any improvements are delivered in a planned and co-ordinated way.

"There will be many different opportunities for local residents to get involved and shape the options for change, anyone wanting more information or to register for updates can visit shapingthefuture.commonplace.is/”